Myanmar Artisans

Myanmar has some beautiful locally made crafts. While we were in Inle we visited a few of the artisans and saw how some of the crafts are made.

Photos from our travels with the Allens in December 2019.

Weaving with lotus fiber is a century old craft that originated in Myanmar. The process is demanding, beginning by carefully extracting the fiber by hand from the stems. The fibers are then rolled together to create one thread. The threads are then washed, dried, and tied together. The fibers are extremely delicate and can only be woven on a handloom. It takes at least 20,000 lotus stems and more than a month to produce one square meter of lotus fabric.

The traditional Burmese cheroot is a popular cigar made from the leaves, stem, and roots of the tobacco plant, wrapped in dry thanat leaves. These ladies can roll over 1000 cheroots a day. As cheroots are tobacco products I would advise steering clear for the health of your lungs, but it is really interesting to see how this popular product is made.